I wanted to seek guidance on losing fat and gaining weight. Currently I’m 21M, 5’10.5 and ~180lbs at 20.9% bf according to the navy calculator (36’ around the navel). My longer term goal is to be in the mid 190s at ~14-17%. I’m basing this in part on what I see with you and Austin are roughly my height and at (or have been) at this weight and body composition. You guys look like you have a muscular but more “normal” body size (ie I don’t want to be big) while pursuing very good strength numbers. I’d like to similarly be more “normally” sized, while pursuing serious strength goals, and being healthy and competing in BJJ. My questions are:
Given my goals, how do you suggest monitoring and adjusting nutrition without tracking macros and calories? Are generic metrics like “a fistful” of protein helpful guidelines?
How long would you suggest my bulking, cutting and maintenance phases be as I pursue this body composition?
On a cut, what program template or training adjustments would you suggest, particularly if I’m on a shorter cut (2-6 weeks) and right in the middle of strength-focused block?
I think the programming and nutrition recommendations from the other thread still stand. For the programming, I would not expect a cut or bulk to substantially change your programming needs. That said, I do think you would like Powerbuilding 1 as advised.
With this relatively small surplus and a good response, I don’t think you’ll need to do much of the traditional cutting, bulking, and maintenance phases. If you don’t respond that well, e.g. waist and body fat go up disproportionately to muscle mass, then the preferred approach will change. I cannot say how long your phases should last, as they vary wildly between individuals. Muscle gain is an exceedingly long process, that’s for sure.
Regarding how-to implement a dietary approach, one could try and use anthropomorphized measurements, e.g. an open palm is ~ 4 oz of protein, a closed fist is 1 serving of carbohydrates, and a thumb is 1 serving of fat. I think if someone is going to the trouble of measuring with their hand and tracking that info somewhere, a scale and set of measuring cups can come in handy. If someone is vehemently opposed to that, then hand-based measurements can work, as well as eyeballing it. There are many other approaches that we discuss during consultation, but the selected strategy is mostly personal preference. In my experience with people I work with on nutrition, it takes a bit of back and forth to settle on an approach.
Thanks for your quick response Jordan. I surprised to hear you don’t recommend changing a strength-focused program on a cut in my case, if I’m understanding you right. Could you explain why this is the case? I’ve read and received advice to not run a program focused on increasing strength (ie the Texas Method, which I know you guys don’t recommend anyway in it’s basic form) on a cut since you’ll be weaker and won’t have as much energy given you have lower mass and calories (I understand this is a very simplified description of this situation that leaves out a lot of details).
I do not think that strength performance and adaptation are diminished by modest energy deficits. I know that some groups and individuals say this, but it is not supported by scientific evidence or experience. In other words, many people continue to get stronger while losing weight, just as many people don’t get stronger while gaining weight. I think this is mostly related to the programming and how appropriate it is for the individual, with motivation, adherence, sleep, and adequate protein also being modifiable factors.
Mechanistically, low energy availability (LEA) sufficient to produce relatively slow weight loss does not appear to affect muscle function, signaling, or performance. Muscle levels of ATP, PCR, etc. are no different, people can still gain muscle mass (indicating a preserved response to anabolic stimuli), and multiple studies show improved strength with weight loss.
Here’s a podcast I recorded with Dr. Areta, who was primary author on a really interesting paper discussing this:
That’s interesting, thanks for sharing. I’ve never been exposed to the perspective that you can efficiently train for strength while on a cut. I’ll plan to listen to the podcast.
It’s definitely contentious in some of the more rhetoric-heavy groups online, but converging lines of evidence seem to all bear out the same thing. Strength gain does not seem to require an energy surplus.